Public Justice

The Public Justice major at SUNY Oswego is a multidisciplinary liberal arts program with special emphasis in the social and behavioral sciences, leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree. Areas of study include administration of justice, corrections, court and judicial administration, juvenile delinquency, law enforcement, probation, parole, community-based rehabilitation programs, private security, and pre-law.

The title, Public Justice, indicates that the program is concerned with a range of matters beyond the confines of the criminal justice system. Public Justice is a field of study that encompasses the origins, missions, goals, policies, and methods of the civil and criminal justice systems, as well as human services systems.

Public Justice deals with the way laws are made, applied and enforced. It deals with the policies and goals that inspire those laws and for whose accomplishment the laws are a vehicle. It deals with public service and public institutions that are a part of the enterprise of maintaining order in society and, to an increasing extent, responsible for distributing entitlements to the public. The goal of Public Justice is to examine the way this public enterprise does--and should--interact with its constituents. To achieve this goal, Public Justice majors combine a broad-based liberal arts education, in-depth research on topics in which they have a special interest, and supervised fieldwork experience. Students are taught by Public Justice core faculty, faculty from supporting departments, and adjunct faculty with specialized knowledge and experience.

At the time of admission to the college, some new students (either first-year or transfer) declare their interest in Public Justice and become Public Justice majors. Other students decide to declare Public Justice after they have been admitted to SUNY Oswego. Since Public Justice is an multidisciplinary program, first and second year students interested in the major can begin preparing to work on the major requirements by enrolling in the appropriate introductory level courses in the social and behavioral sciences.

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